Refrigerator



Oct. 6, 1931. FlSKE 1,826,303

REFRIGERATOR Filed March 14, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z Y I JomafihaH PB. Hake Patented Oct. 6, 1931 UNITED sT 'res;

TO KELVINATOR CORPORATION, DETROI'I, MICHIGAN,- A. CORPORATION 01' b MICHIGAN i Application filed Karen 14, 1921. Serial 1%. 52,015.

This invention relates to refrigerators and more particularly to mechanical refrigerators of the compression type.

One of the objects of the invention is the.

provision of a header or expansion tank in the refrigerant system to provide a chamber that is continually only partially filled with liquid refrigerant thus providing ample space above Another object of the invention is the constraction of an automatically operated refrigerator which is provided with an expansion chamber associated with the upper portion of the brine tank for assisting in cooling the same. I Another ob ect of the invention la the construction of a refrigerating system for the,

preservation of food with improved means as-= .sociated therewith for also efiectively and.

rapidly freezing water or other substances.

A still further object of the invention is the employment of means for automatically starting and stopping the motor to ether with an expansion chamber located wit in the refrig erating chamber and a closure or valve he= tween the refrigerating chamber and the ccol= ing or food compartment, whereby it is necessary for the motor to run only at inirequent intervals.

Otherobjects and advantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

(in the drawings:

Fig. l is avertical section ofthe refrigerator looking toward the back;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of the device;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the closure or valve, parts broken away; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line H 015 an the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a refrigerator which may be of the usual construction having the heat insulated chamber 2 for the refrigerating unit and having a cooling or food compartment. The food compartment may have any convement arrangement, as for example, 1t may consist plo PATEN crrlce 'l JONATHAN r. 3. men's, ornn'rnoxr, madman, Assrenom n'z IESNE .essrw nm'arenmron of the side compartment 3 and the compartment 4 beneath the chamber 2. The compartments 3 and 4 may together be considered as forming a single L-shaped compartment. If a partition between the compartments 3 and lbe employed it will, of course, be provided with a ventilating openmg for the circulation of air therethrough;

shdown, however, no partition is eme he chamber 2 has two openings therein,

one located above the other for the circulation of air therethrough. @ne of these openmgs may be located in the ripper portion of the heat insulated side wall or pa n tition 5 as at 8 and the other at a lowerlevel as for example at 6 in the bottom wall F0 The openm d is closed by an automatically ,operated valve 15 which is controlled hi means of the thermostat 1%. valve may be of any form and operated by any suitable mechanism which is controlled by the temperature within the cooling chamber 3. As shown, the valve or damper 3.5 (see Figs. 3 and l is secured within the onening 6 by means or brackets i? which are attached to the walls of the opening. Arms 18 adustably secured to the brackets l? are connected to a lei-shaped support 19 which in turn supports a corrugated longitudinally extensible member or bellows .20. fa head 21 is secured to the upper end of this hel lows. The upper portion of the head 21 extends through a plate 22 which is secured by bolts 23 to the li-shaped support 19 as clearly shown in F1. 1. Links at pivoted lugscarried by t e plate 22 cross each other at their inner ends and are pivoted to the head 21 as at 25. The outer ends of these links have slotted connections with the damper member 26 so that when the bellows 20 ex ponds the links 24 will act as lazy tongs to elthe compartment 3 rises, it causes the liquid sulphur dioxide within the bulb 28 to vaporize, thus increasing the pressure therein,

which is communicated the bellows and extends the same to open the damper or valve 15 to permit cold air from the chamber 2 to pass down into the food compartment to thus lower the temperature therein.

Located within the chamber 2 is what may be termed the refrigerating unit 10. This unit consists of a lar e expansion tank or header 11, a tube 12 and two series of pipes. The two series are opposite each other and are so arranged that the pipes 13 at one side and the pipes 13 at the other may be said to form a series of loops which are connected to the header in multiple instead of in series. As shown on the drawings, the upper ends of the pipes 13 and 13' are connected to the header 11 and at their lower ends to the tube 12 which extends parallel to the header 11.

The refrigerating unit may be associated with a brine tank 9 suitably supported within the chamber 2. This tank contains brine, as calcium chloride solution in which the expansion pipes are immersed. The calcium chloride solution is poured into the brine tank through an opening which is then closed by a plug 14 which substantially seals the liquid in the tank to prevent evaporation of the brine as well as to prevent its splashin" over on moving the refrigerator.

he brine tank is provided with chambers 16 therein which receive drawers or trays 17' that are adapted to contain Water or other substances to be chilled or frozen. The loops of the pipes 13, 13 extend down into the brine above, below and on each side of the chambers 16 to thereby maintain the brine at a uniformly low temperature around and about said chambers 16 without the necessity of a mechanical agitator for the brine. If desired, plates and 91 attached to the pipes 13 and 13 respectively extending along from front to back of the tank may be em loyed to facilitate the circulation of the brine, the colder brine descending on the pipe side of the plates and ascending on the other side. The plates are connected to the pipes and consequently they also increase the heat absorbing surface of the pipes. These plates are not necessary and may be dis ensed with if desired.

satisfactory refrigeration machine for household use is called upon to perform two distinct functions, i. e., the preservation of food and the making of ice for table use. The preservation of food is accomplished by keepm the temperature as, nearly constant as possible and from 35 F. to 45 F. an average of, say, 40 F. If the tem erature reaches as low a point as 32 F, the cod will be frozen. If it exceeds much above 45 F.,

bacterial growth starts and the food decom-' poses. On the other hand in order to freeze water into ice, the temperature must be at 32 T or lower. To accomplish the same emciently and rapidly, the temperature should be from 10 F. to 20 T1, or an average of, say, 15 l1. produce a temperature of say, 15 F. in the ice trays located in the evaporator and, say, 40 it. in the food compartment.

It is possible to maintain the temperature of the brine about the ice trays at the desired 15 F. and to so proportion the openings 8 and 6 into and out or the chamber 2 so that with a given temperature of the room in which the entire device is placed the air will circulate just fast enough to convey suliicient heated air from the food compartment 3 to the brine tank 9 and to return an equivalent amount of cold air through the opening 6 to the food compartment l and thence to the beginning thereby producing the proper temperature in the food compartment, but it will be evident that should the room temperature increase the air circulation within the structure must be correspondingly increased, and if the room temperature decreases, the air circulation must be correspondingly decreased, otherwise, notwithstanding a constant temperature of the brine and of the chamber 2, the temperature of the food will vary. This unstable condition has been a source of great dilhculty in domestic mechanical refrigerators heretofore. To obviate this difficulty 1 have divorced the two functions and made them independent. I operate my system so that the temperature about the freezing drawers or trays 17 will always be sufiiciently low to properly freeze water and other substances as desired. I then place in the opening 6 a damper or valve 15 so arranged that it will restrict the circulation through said opening always allowing just enough cold air from the compartment 2 to circulate through the compartments 3 and 4 to keep them at the desired uniform temperature independent of the room temperature in which the entire device is placed. 1

The operation of the valve or damper 15 is entirely automatic and is dependent upon the temperature surrounding the bulb 28 located within the food compartment and communieating with the bellows which operates the damper as heretofore described.

In order for a device of this nature to operate at its maximum eiiiciency the vapor on the suction side should be dry. Whenever the suction vapor is accompanied with more or less liquid, evaporation takes place in the suction line and in the crankcase of the compressor, producing refrigeration at The problem, therefore, is to order to avoid this serious difiiculty I proj and 7 accuses puns where a is not desired nions; where it will do a great deal of harm. In

vide a large storage space for dry vapor above the surfaceof the liquid refrigerant so that whenever the compressor starts the gas may be drawn therefrom without draw 'in' liquid refrigerant also. p

y en the motor stops running the refrigerant will continue to vaporize within the pipes 13 and 13' andwithin the header 11 to accumulate in the storage space in the header until the pressure reaches that corresponding to the temperature of the liquid refrigerant in the header and pipe. The vaporized refrigerant in the storage space will be dry vapor. When the motor starts this dry vapor is drawn oil into the suction pipe and the crankcase until the pressure 18 lowered suiiiciently .to start ebullition, after which the refrigerant boils quietly, delivering dry vapor into the storage space and thence into the suction pipe and crankcase.

The large chamber or header 11 provides not only a reservoir for dry gas but also for the liquidrefrigerant so that there is always ample gas and liquid for the proper and efi:

V cient operation or the entire system.

The association of the relatively large chamber or header 11 with the damper is considered a very important feature of my invention since the header acts as a reservoir both for the liquid and gaseous refrigerant and the damper prevents the undue vaporization of the liquid refrigerant. The liquid vaporizes and absorbs heat suflicient to keep I the temperature about the freezing drawers or trays 17' at about 15 F. and the damper restricts the circulation of air through the opening 6 so that the temperature of the food compartments 3 and 4 cannot drop below,

say, 46 F. ifthe'opening 6 were mire-- stricted by the damper the circulation of the air therethrough would be very much more rapid, the circulation of warm air through the opening 8 would he correspondingly increased and the vaporization within the header would much more rapid in order to maintain the desired temperature about the freezing hays. ihus the damper prevents undue lowering of the temperature in the; food compartment and thereby conserves'the vaporization of the liquid within the header, which, in turn, reduces the necessary operation of the compressor to supply further liquid to the header, thereby conserving electric power required to operate the entire system.

In refrigeration systems for household use it has been found .very diificult to produce a sufiiciently low temperature to satisfactorily freeze water or other substances. It is custernary to provide trays for the reception of water and to locate these trays within sleeves being chilled bylthe vaporization of'liquid refngerant su plied to pipes arranged in the brine about t e sleeves or chambers. The

vaporization-(pipes heretofore employed have been long an coils of many turnswhereby when the gas 1s tortuous often in the form of 7- liberated by ebullition it is obliged to make shaped pipes 13 and 13' attached to the eader and extending downwardl and around the chamber 16 containing the reezing drawers. I I employ a large number of independent pipes and by making them of very simple orm with few turns 1 liberate the gas in large quantities and allow it to How freely without back pressure into the. header 11 where it gathers in the storage space as dry vapor. It as been found in practice that this form of vaporizer, consisting of a header with a large space for the storage of dry vapor and a series of U shaped evaporatin tubes connected thereto, is very hi hly e cient and that it overcomes much 0 the dificulty heretofore experienced in the art. The compressor unit consistin of the motor 30, compressor 31, and con enser 32 may be of any suitable type as for example that disclosed in Patent No. 1,286,612, granted to Bechtold'and Mellowes, Aug. 20, 1918, and re uires no further descri tion.

e refrigerant after eing condensed in the condenser 32 settles in the pocket 33 and is thence forced past the expansion valve, not shown, through the pipe 34, the tube 12 and pipe 13, 13' into the header 11 partially filling the same as indicated by the line 36 in Fig. 2. The charge of refrigerant and arrangement of parts is such that the header 1]. is constantly maintained partially filled with refrigerant liquid. In other words, as fast as the refrigerant vapor which forms in all the above mentioned pipes andheader is drawn through the return pipe 37, by the compressor when it is operating, liquid refrigerant is forced from the condenser up into the header and tubes to take its place and tothereby maintain approximately a constant amount of liquid refrigerant within the header.

The motor employed is one that isfsuitable for the motive power available. The motor shown is an electric one, and is controlled by any suitable thermall operated switch controlled'mechanism. no form of switch controller mechanism for this purpose is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 2. a A bulb partially filled with a liquid that vaporizes at low temperature, as for example, methyl chloride, is located in the brine tank 9 (see Fig. 2). A tube 56 connects this bulb with a corrugated longitudinally extensible member 57 called a bellows mounted on the base plate 58. Attached to the upper end of the bellows 57 is an arm 59 connected at its outer end by a link 60 to a projection on the base plate 58. The inner end of the arm 59 has a bearing 61 'which is adapted to be engaged by a knife alines with the arm 63.

The switch proper as shown consists of the two contact points 38 and 39 which are adapted to be bridged by the conductor plate 40 carried by the springs 41 which are attached to the projection 42 rigidly connected to or integral with the arm 43 which in turn is pivoted to the post 44. The springs are em ployed to insure a sliding contact. The free end of the arm 43 is adapted to contact the upper side of the conductor plate 40 to firmly hold the same against the contact points when the switch is closed. An arm 45 pivoted to the post 44 and extending in the opposite direction from the arm 43 has an extension 46 that is adapted to engage the extension 47 of the latch 48 to release the same as will presently appear. The latch 48 has an upwardly extending member 49 extending through an opening in the arm 43 and terminating in a book 50 that engages the arm 43 to limit its upward movement. A notch 51 is adapted to engage the arm 43 and hold it in its lowered position. A spring 52 tends to hold the latch rearwardly. Two springs 53 connecting the two arms 43 and 45 are adapted to pass dead center to hold the arms either in raised or lowered position. A link 54 connects the arm 45 to the outer end of the weighted lever 68.

In operation, when thetemperature in the brine tank rises the vapor plessure in the thermostat increases and this acts to elongate the bellows 57 which through the mechanism described lifts the outer end of the lever 63 thus lowering its inner end and pern'litting the downward movement of the weighted lever 68 to thereby lower the link 54 and with it the arm 45. When the arm 45 carries the springs 53 past dead center the springs will cause the conductor plate to snap against the contact points 38 and 39 of the line 38 to thus start the motor. When the temperature within the brine tank is lowered sufiiaeaaaos ciently the reverse operation takes place and stops the motor. But in the reverse operation the conductor plate 40 remains in lowered position until the extension 46 of the arm 45 comes in contact with the extension 47 to release the notch 51 from engagement with the arm 43. This arrangement provides an almost instantaneous breaking of the circuit and thus prevents arcing. It will thus be seen that the arrangement is such that the motor is caused to operate only when the temperature rises above a predetermined maximum and is automatically stopped when the temperature falls below a predetermined minimum.

Mechanism is also provided for automatically controlling the supply of water flowing through the condenser coils in the condensing chamber 32. This means is so arranged that when the pressure within the condenser exceeds a predetermined maximum the motor will be automatically stopped by this means and when the pressure falls below that point the device will be automatically restored to the control of the thermally operated device. For the purpose of illustration one form of this device is diagrammatically shown in Fig. 2.

A pipe 70 has one end connected to the condenser 32 and its other end to the lower end of a bellows 71. An arm 72 is connected to the upper end of the bellows 71 and has its outer end connected by means of a link 73 to the base plate 58. The inner end engages a needle valve 73 that controls the valve opening 75. A spring 76 tends to open the valve.

On the upper side of the inner end of the arm 72 is a bearing 77 which is engaged by a knife. bearing 78 carried by the lever 79. The lever 79 has a weight 80 adjustably mounted on its outer end and is pivotally connected at its inner end to an arm 81 suspended by a link 82 from the top member 66. The free end of the link 81 is bent laterally as at 83 to engage beneath the weighted lever 68 to open the switch when the pressure in the condenser becomes excessive, as will presently appear. On the upper side of the lever 79 and located inwardly of the knife bearing 78 is a knife bearing 84 which engages a complementary bearing 85 carried by the top mem ber 66.

In operation, when the motor starts, the pressure rises in the condenser 32 and this is communicated to the bellows 71 through the pipe 70, which elevates the arm 72 and thus permits the spring 76 to open the valve 75 which permits water from some suitable source of supply to enter through the pipe 86. The water is forced through the valve 75 and pipe 87 on into the condenser 32. After passing through the condenser coils, not shown, it is discharged through the pipe 88.

As the pressure increases the valve opens wider to permit more water to flow through the condensing coils. If, however, the pressure exceeds a predetermined amount, as when the water has been cut off, the extension of the bellowswhich causes the outer end of the arm 81 to move downwardly will cause the lateral extension 83 on the inner end of said arm to engage, beneath the weighted lever 68 and elevate the same to thereby open the switch and stop the motor. When the pressure is relieved the device will be automatically restored to the control of the thermally operated device.

Itwill be understood that various changes may be resorted to in the form, construction, composition and arrangement of the several 'parts without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention; hence I do not wish to limit myself strictly to the structure herein set forth.

What I claim is:

1. In combination, a brine tank prpvided with a recess as for the reception of an ice pan, and a multiple path refrigerating duct disposed within said tank with each path about only one side of said recess andextending progressively in the same vertical direction from an inlet at one extremity of said duct ta a junction with return ductmeans at the other extremity thereof.

2. In combination, 'a brine tank provided with a recess extending therethrough as for the reception of an ice pan and extending into said tank from a lateral face thereof, and a plurality of refrigerant duct means disposed within said tank each about a difiercnt part of said recess and each extending progres sively in the same vertical direction from an inlet at one extremity of said duct to a junction with return duct means at the other extremity thereof.

3. In -combination, a brine tank provided with a recess as for the reception of an ice pan and extending into said tank from a lateral face thereof, and a plurality of refrigerant duct means disposed within said tank each about a difierent part of said recess and each extending progressively in the same vertical direction from an inlet at one extremity or? said duct to a junction with return duct means at the other extremity thereof.

4. A refrigerant evaporating unit comprising a pair of elongated and horizontally disposed rei'irigei-ant vessels arranged one above the other in substantially parallel relation; a palr of groups of refrigerant distributing ducts connected between the vessels, each of such groups of ducts being connected to the upper header longitudinally thereof and projecting in substantially opposite directions outwardly therefrom, thence downwardly in continuous substantially parallel vertical planes. and thence inwardly adjacent the opposite ends of the ducts, said ends there communicating with the lower vessel longimeans longitudinally thereof and projecting downwardly in contmuous substantially parallel vertical planes thence inwardly adjacent the opposite ends of the ducts, said ends there communicating with the lower means longitudinally of the latter, and a freezing tray disposed in the region between the groups of ducts for exchanging heat therewith.

In testimony whereof I afiix mysignature.

JONATHAN P. B. FISKE. 

